LABELS & LESSONS

So I needed to get some labels printed and sort out packaging for my products. I had never done this before and I am in a strange place where I don’t know anyone or where to go to get things done (not that I deliberately set out to make things hard for me you understand!). So here is what I did. Firstly I got on the internet and found some label making companies and then I contacted the 3 that looked like the best.

My plan was to meet and talk to them and decide which I thought would do the best job, my criteria was to get a design that matched the products and have them printed by Oct/Nov at the lowest possible price. Of course when a sentence starts with ‘my plan’ you know that that’s not how it going to work out and the same is true here! In the end up only 1 person turned up and due to other circumstances I was not in a position to follow through with ‘my plan’ and I decided to give him free reign an see what he could come up with.

After a slow start things went really well the designs were lovely and kind of what I had in mind and everything seemed on course for me to launch my product for Christmas.

Cardiff is very pretty at Christmas and I knew that there was a market in the centre with little huts/chalets (see pic) I thought this would be the ideal place to launch my products, so I set about finding out how to get one which was not as hard as I thought and in no time I has secured a space for 2 weeks at the start of December. Yay! All systems Go!!!!

Then everything went quiet…….. Market gets closer labels seem further and further away……..

Cardiff Christmas Market 2011

Then I get quote for labels – shock horror – too expensive – panic – calm down and rationalise this. I regroup, scale down & go for a run of labels for the 3 main products in each range but time is slipping away and I have a Christmas chalet in the centre of Cardiff to fill and it is becoming increasingly unlikely that I will have labels for my products – EEEK! What am I going to do?

Here are the lessons I learned

1.       Set a definite completion date at the start of the project.

2.       As soon as feasibly possible agree order details (quantity, price, delivery date) and get confirmation in writing.

3.       Don’t be distracted by other things like leaflets websites etc., get one job done at a time and give it you full concentration.

Mixing, Testing & Moving

I started off making a face oil using some base oils that nourish the skin keeping it soft and supple, with some essential oils that are really beneficial for the skin, especially mature skin obviously frankincense and rose were top of my list and then I also included geranium as it creates a balance between oily and dry skin and has oestrogenic qualities.

I was careful to blend oils that would sink into my skin without leaving an oily residue so that I could put on my make-up straight after I used it. I still use this oil, though it’s a serum now, and it forms the basis of my Rose range.

Then, as part of my herbal medicine degree I learnt how to make cream and a world of possibilities opened up!

I went on more courses and I learnt how to make creams, lotions and salves; I learnt more and more about base oils, what they did, how they did it and how to use them; I researched butters, oils and waxes; I experimented with them and tried different recipes - I spent a loooong time in the kitchen!!!

So here I am 8 years later with fabulous skincare ranges full of natural goodies that are really good for your skin, all the tests and safety assessments have been done so all that I need now is the packaging and marketing and as if that's not enough I up sticks and move to Cardiff to do it!

Small seeds,First steps

Over the last 8 years I have been developing a range of cosmetics using plant based organic ingredients. It all started when I noticed signs of my skin ageing, I went into panic mode wondering how to stop it or delay it or at least make it look better! I saw a lot of adverts with young women on them telling me to use this or that product and I couldn't tell which was the one to use or what was in that would work. I booked in for a session of botox but I was too scared to have it done, chickened out and cancelled. After watching yet another advert with a 20something young woman telling me how good her skin looked after using X brand of cream I went to the kitchen to make myself a cup of coffee, on the way I passed all my essential oils (I had been an aromatherapist for 18 years) and stopped short - "you silly woman" I thought "you have all the oils here, why don't you make something for yourself?" 

Little did I know that this was the first step on a long journey!